Description:
Standing athwart post-history yelling "Stop," psychologist Richard DeGrandpre looks askance at the cultural impact of our technology in Digitopia: The Look of the New Digital You. Embracing McLuhan's analysis of media's transforming influence on our lives, he is suspicious of, if not exactly hostile toward, digital culture. It's a fairly conservative message coming from a lefty, but many of his arguments will hit home with all but the most libertarian reader. DeGrandpre's 25 essays are clever, well informed, and concise, though he's generally more concerned with scoring rhetorical points than illuminating his topics more broadly. Still, it's important to hear all sides of any argument, even arguments that, like this one, are largely waged implicitly. The pro-tech case is simply the status quo, making collections like Digitopia vital for readers who prefer conscious and thoughtful analysis to careless acceptance. The broad scope DeGrandpre brings is refreshing--including information about teenage girls' body image, preliterate cultures, and Third World health care puts his rhetoric in context and may help convince a few readers that some effects of technology ought to be curbed before post-history leads to post-humanity. --Rob Lightner
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